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December 2, 2008 8:41:34 PM CST

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Portugal May Break Ban, Invite Mugabe

Posted Jul 2, 07 5:58 AM CDT in World 

(Newser) – Portugal has provoked a firestorm by proposing to invite Robert Mugabe to an upcoming summit of European and African nations, despite an EU ban prohibiting the Zimbabwean dictator from traveling on the Continent. The African Union insists all its members be treated equally, and EU refusal to invite Mugabe at the last such summit in 2003 torpedoed the proceedings before they began.

Portugal has made the December conference its top priority of its six-month EU presidency and says the ban allows the despot into Europe to discuss human rights issues. German chancellor Angela Merkel supports the invitation; the British are fiercely opposed. Resistance would subside, the Guardian notes, if Mugabe renounced plans to be reelected next year.

Source Guardian (UK)

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A portrait of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe and the country's flag are paraded during independence celebrations in Harare, Wednesday, April 27, 2007. President Robert Mugabe declared he had overcome...   (Associated Press)
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe holds up his fist as he listens to a speech during a rally organized by supporters in Accra, Ghana Sunday, July 1, 2007. More than 30 heads of state gathered in Ghana's...   (Associated Press)
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe attends the opening ceremony of the African Union summit in Accra, Ghana Sunday, July 1, 2007. More than 30 heads of state gathered in Ghana's capital Sunday to debate...   (Associated Press)
Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, talks during his meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, unseen, at the Presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, June 16, 2007. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)   (Associated Press)
President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, arrives for the 12th Summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, COMESA, at the United Nations Complex in Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, May 22, 2007....   (Associated Press)
Surrounded by security men, President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, arrives for the second day of the 12th Summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), at the United Nations Complex...   (Associated Press)
Flag of Zimbabwe   (MapQuest.com)
A woman with an umbrella depicting the logo of the European Union...   (Getty Images)
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